Jacob Lusk started the night out and my first thought was “Bye-Bye”.  Then the judges turn around and praise him.  Huh?  He’s just not modern enough and what the heck was with that outfit?  My guess is that Jacob is a goner this week.

Lauren Alaina was her usual talented, beautiful self.  I don’t think I have ever heard her perform and didn’t like her.  She doesn’t need to win American Idol to become a star.  She’s got that in the bag.

Next we had a duet from Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams.  They are a talented duo with really good chemistry–which is what American Idol was aiming for, wasn’t it?  Steven Tyler went straight after Casey asking him how much he loves Haley.  Somebody had to, didn’t they?

Scotty McCreery did his best on a sit-down romantic number.  Once again, the judges thought that he was awesome.  I expected so much more.  I’m not sure exactly what, but definitely more.  Last night Scotty had a Twitter party with all his teen girly fans.  This kid knows how to play it up to his fans.  The girls were squealing like he was a Beatle and I’m sure everyone of them are dialing their fingers off right now as I type!

It could possibly be that James Durbin sealed his American Idol title tonight.  When he sings like this, he wins over all generations.  This was my favorite of the night and my favorite of the competition so far.

American Idol is very lucky to have another cute duo in Scotty and Lauren.  They are a great combo and look so cute together.  I’m looking forward to hearing them sing together in the AI concert. I would definitely buy tickets to a concert that featured just the two of them.

Casey Abrams is an interesting subject, isn’t he?  He’s really good at what he does, but the question is…do enough Idol fans appreciate what he does?  I liked this number, but I don’t vote.

Steven Tyler told Haley Reinhart “I saw God”.  Really…God?  Where?  I missed him.

The third duo was Jacob and James.  I was thinking “uh-oh”, but I enjoyed this number.  They were having fun and didn’t seem to be uncomfortable.  Did you catch James’ dance steps?  Very nice, but his pants may have been a tad too tight!

That’s it for tonight.  Did you vote for your favorite?  If he or she gets voted off tomorrow, don’t complain if you didn’t vote!  Bloggergal

West Coasters…Spoiler follows!

Sorry everyone, it looks like you didn’t get a recap after yesterday’s show.  I won’t recap, but I will comment!  Why is it that James Durbin always gets special treatment when he performs?  Not that I didn’t love it…I did! We probably coulda’ skipped those drummers though.   It was great to see the gals and Paul back, wasn’t it?  I hate to be repetitive, but they sure are talented.  The contestants commenting about each other was so much fun.  It’s so good to see them just being themselves.  Casey’s kiss was cute and he was first place for me.  Since I already know what happened tonight on the result show, I won’t comment on who I think would have been in the bottom three.

I don’t think the bottom three were a surprise.  James, Casey, Lauren and Scotty are definitely the top four.  I would be surprised if any of those four are eliminated before Jacob and Haley.  Stefano Langone definitely had the weakest performance of the night and therefore should have been eliminated.  I have to cut this blog short.  I just came home from vacation and I’m exhausted.  Thanks for keeping those comments coming.  Bloggergal

My husband and I attended Reality Rally in Temecula California this weekend.  This for charity event was created by Survivor contestant Gillian Larson.  Reality Rally is an event modeled after The Amazing Race where teams race throughout the city in a competition involving crazy activities, all for the coveted trophy, cash prizes, and most importantly raising funds for the charity of choice. This year’s charity is Michelle’s Place, a breast cancer resource center located in Temecula.  The idea is for regular folk to form teams with Reality TV stars to compete.  The weekend long event gave fans ample opportunity to hang out and meet their favorite stars.

Big Brother, Survivor and Amazing Race contestants were everywhere along with some reality TV show stars from shows I’ve never even heard of!  I’m attaching some pictures for your viewing pleasure.  It was just too bad that American Idol wasn’t represented at this event.  Oh well, maybe next year.

FYI, I’m not going to be near a computer or a TV on Wednesday evening so BBBlogger is going to fill in for me.  Show him some love!  Have a great week…Bloggergal

If you would like to see more pictures, check out my Big Brother blog http://www.big-brother-blog.com/

In the end, becoming famous is just “the luck of the draw”.  Rihanna is famous.  Is she that much better than, say Pia Toscano?  Who knows?  All that counts is that somebody, somewhere saw something about her and promoted her, etc…and there you have it a success…Rihanna.  Where it gets touchy is the length of time you can remain on top or at least near the top.  Kelly Clarkson has had her ups and downs since becoming the American Idol.  Her concentrating on country-style singing and this latest song with Jason Aldean should push her back up to the top.

The bottom three this week were Haley Reinhart, Paul McDonald and Stefano Langone with Paul McDonald eliminated.  I was surprised to see Stefano in the bottom three rather than Casey Abrams.  Does that mean that America did “get it”?  Haley has been at the bottom a lot, hasn’t she?  She squeaks through every single time though.  I didn’t think Stefano belonged in the bottom three this week, but there he was.

The Idol producers must have heard the complaints last week because they once again had the contestants sing in groups.  All three numbers were really good and they make the elimination show just a little easier to take.

We’re down to seven contestants now.  It’s looking more and more like Scotty, Lauren and James landing at the top of the heap. Bloggergal

Tonight’s theme was hits from the movies.  Not a hard theme since there are hundreds of movies with hundreds of song choices.  The contestants were able to find songs that fit their specific singing talents.  Scotty McCreery found his country song, although not the one that Jimmy Iovine thought he should do.  Casey Abrams chose a Nat King Cole song, also going against the advice of Mr. Iovine.  Not to be outdone by the others, James Durbin picked a song that Jimmy Iovine didn’t approve of.  The judges think this shows that these contestants/performers know what they want to sing and will stick to their own instincts.  When James Durbin told Jimmy Iovine in essence that he didn’t care what he thought, Jimmy’s eyelashes were blinking 100 times a minute!  Only time will tell who was right and who was wrong.

The judges, as usual, were mostly filled with praise for all the contestants.  The only one receiving just a little criticism was Haley Reinhart.  Randy said her song came off sounding “karaoke”.  Jennifer Lopez agreed with Randy, although she did say she didn’t want to see another female going home this week.

Highlights this week, at least for me were Jacob Lusk singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Stefano Langone’s version of “End of the Road”.  To be honest, I can’t wait to go download both of those songs.  I think Stefano showed America that he has as much right to be on American Idol as Pia Toscano did.  Jacob gave Jennifer Lopez (and me) chills.

In the middle for me tonight were Lauren Alaina and Paul McDonald.  Both sang really well and true to form, but I didn’t feel their songs were unforgettable.  In fact, I’ve forgotten them already!

I loved hearing Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist Zakk Wylde play during James’ song.  I wonder who decides to feature a famous person with the contestant?  Does singing with someone famous give you an advantage in the competition?  Will going against the expert bite James in the butt down the line?

I don’t know what to think of Casey Abrams jazzy number.  The judges absolutely loved it.  They liked the artsy performance of the song.  It wasn’t my kind of song and I’m not sure how many people in America understood what Casey and the judges were trying to say and prove.  I doubt the young, finger-dialing youth were thrilled with it.  I see Casey in the bottom of the pack this week.

I have to mention that I was very impressed with the way Randy was dressed tonight.  I loved the colors and the way the sweater, shirt and tie set each other off perfectly.  Every time he spoke I couldn’t help but notice how put together he was!

Remember, unless you vote tonight…you don’t have the right to complain when your favorite is voted off tomorrow!  Good Night…Bloggergal

Tonight really showed that the remaining nine American Idol contestants belong right where they are…on that stage! I didn’t think there was a bad, or even a so-so performance among them. I thought they were all great. Top on my list is Paul McDonald. His energy, his guitar playing and his total connection to his performance and the song were right on. I loved James Durbin changing it up tonight and doing a slow song. This song showed how really beautiful his voice can be.

What really surprised me was Pia Toscano. Yes, she finally broke away from a ballad to sing a song with a beat, but I don’t think she noticed. Granted, Pia has an incredible voice. She’s a diva-in-the-making. My question is…how could she sing a song with such a contagious beat and not even once move a part of her body in time to the music? I was moving in time to the music, so why not her? The judges touched on it, gently, but I think she better find her way out of this one and fast.

Haley finally did a Janis Joplin number. I wonder if Simon would have said it was too much Janis and not enough Haley? Regardless, her voice was made for this kind of music. Scotty finally did an Elvis song. Funny, but I sent him a Tweet during the week suggesting it! I would have liked to have seen him break out and dance just a tiny bit more, but he did an admirable job. Lauren Alaina is so beautiful and so talented. She has a long and happy singing career in front of her.

Casey Abrams performed with his stand-up bass. I think he might be trying just a tad too hard to be what he thinks America wants him to be. Yes, I know, I even mentioned he should smile more and I do think he should. Now, he just needs to find a balance between the nice Casey and the gruff Casey. Jacob Lusk chose a Michael Jackson song tonight. His expressions while singing were more under control, so that’s good. I’m wondering if he’s going to be in the bottom three tomorrow? After all, someone has to be! Last, and hopefully not least, we have Stefano Langone. Jennifer really felt that he had made a deep, emotional connection to the song and to the audience. He had better, because otherwise he’s in big trouble tomorrow.

With that much talent, it’s anybody’s guess who is next to leave American Idol. I know that I will feel sad for whoever leaves because each of these nine are great and deserve as much time on that stage as the others. It’s going to get tougher and tougher each and every week, so hang on! G’nite…Bloggergal

At least once a season, I think every American Idol fan should spend some time listening to the contestants songs without seeing the performances.  It makes you really concentrate on the song and the way it’s being sung.  I usually do this every week on iTunes.  Sometimes I’m very surprised to hear the vocals after having watched the same thing on the show.  Of course, you also have to take into account that the iTunes songs are recorded in the studio.  Imagine you are in your car and listening to the radio…would you raise the volume or change the channel?  This is a very telling experiment.  Give it a try.

Speaking of experiments, I thought I’d do a follow-up on the whole Twitter follower subject.  Here’s the current breakdown of Idol contestants and Twitter followers:

Scotty McCreery 56,844, Casey Abrams 56,359, Paul McDonald 46,856, Lauren Alaina 42,960, Pia Toscano 39, 870, James Durbin 39,571, Thia Megia 36, 983, Stefano Langone 34,441, Haley Reinhart 24, 643, Jacob Lusk 22,456, Karen Rodriguez 18.825 and Naima Adedapo 17,762.

So what does this tell us?  Absolutely nothing–lol.  As you can see from the numbers, Thia had a huge following on Twitter, but it didn’t save her from elimination.  One thing I do find unusual is that Casey Abrams has such a huge number of followers because he’s not a big Twitter user.  Usually it’s those that tweet the most that gain the most followers.  It’s not surprising that the younger contestants have huge amounts of followers since the young seem to be more into Twitter than us older fans.  As for Paul McDonald having a huge Twitter following, I think it helps that he already had an established band before coming onto Idol.

Elton John made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon Thursday night.  Elton hadn’t seen American Idol yet because he was working on a Saturday Night Live episode.  Jimmy asked Elton what he thought of the contestants singing his songs and he said, “It’s a compliment when someone does your songs.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a bad version.”  Since Elton hadn’t seen the performances yet, he was speaking generally–not specifically about the Idol performances.  Elton took the opportunity to criticize those musicians who are against having their music on Glee.  He specifically mentioned the Kings of Leon and told them to “lighten up”.

The top 11 contestants are already being groomed for their upcoming tour.  They were fitted for their ear pieces and also posed for more (and more!) photos.  Here’s James and Paul showing off their groovy jackets.

This week American Idol will feature rock guitarist and legend Jeff Beck.  It should be an incredible week for James, so stay tuned…Bloggergal

Good job of changing it up American Idol!  The tweeters loved hearing the contestants sing in pairs, trios and quartets.  Scotty and Lauren are such a natural combination–too cute, country kids.  It was a good start to the show. Both were declared safe from elimination.

Naima sang with Jacob and she did a really good job.  It’s too bad she didn’t concentrate on singing in the last few weeks.  She got caught up in all that “stuff” and unfortunately it did her in.  Not surprisingly, she’s one of the bottom three.

The three gals, Thia, Pia and Haley are next up to perform.  They aren’t the next Supremes, but eh…what can you do?  Pia and Haley are safe, putting Thia in the bottom three next to Naima.

The four guys, Paul, Stefano, James and Casey perform together–three on guitar and Stefano on keyboard.  After their performance, Paul joins the two gals in the bottom three.

I have to admit, even though I love Paul, I wasn’t at all surprised with the bottom three.  It’s just going to get tougher and tougher every week as we lose one after another of our favorites.  <sigh>

Twitter was alight with hate for Jamie Foxx and Wil-I-Am.  Since they were commenting from the East Coast, when the number finally came on here on the West Coast–I didn’t know what to expect.  Oh, I see what they were talking about!

When Ryan Seacrest announced Fantasia Barrino singing a song called “Collard Greens and Cornbread”, I thought “huh?”  But, I have to admit Fantasia made it work like only she can do.

As I’m sure you all know by now, Thia and Naima are eliminated.  This tilts the American Idol pool towards the guys with six remaining and only three gals.  I’m off to watch Howie Mandel and his new show.  I love flash mobs!

Have a great weekend…Bloggergal

Let me start by saying I adore Elton John.  I know the words to practically every one of his songs.  I grew up listening to him and he is a World Idol.  So, perhaps that’s why I had a tough time listening to the American Idol contestants sing his songs.  I want Elton John to sing Elton John songs and I guess I don’t think anyone can fill his shoes.  Okay, so with that said…let’s recap!

First up was Scotty McCreery who managed to dig up a “country” Elton John song.  What can I say?  Scotty sings country and he does it well.

That’s more than I can say for Naima Adedapo who put a reggae spin on Elton’s “I’m Still Standin”.  Unfortunately, I don’t think she’ll be standin’ up there for too much longer.

Thia Megia tackled “Daniel” tonight or wait…did Daniel tackle Thia?

Pia Toscano once again played up her enormous strengths with the ballad “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me”.  Pia still isn’t delivering any stage presence, but she’s still diva-ing her way to the top.

Jacob Lusk’s version of “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word” probably would have been better on that new TV show The Voice.  I love his voice, but I found it a little difficult to watch him sing tonight.

“Saturday Night’s Alright” happens to be my song from the St. John’s dances days.  Those of you who grew up with me know what I’m talking about!  James Durbin did his rockin-out thing to it.  American Idol set the grand piano on fire.  That never happened at the St. John’s dances.

Casey James succumbed to pressure and had his hair and beard trimmed.  He also sat down, relaxed, smiled and sang.  Is America happier now?

Does Paul McDonald’s unique voice limit his options when singing?  I loved this Rod Steward-like guy in the beginning, but I think his songs are all starting to blend into one in my mind.

I thought that Stefano Langone gave 100 percent tonight.  He really worked the stage, kept his eyes open for the entire song, smiled into the camera and sang his heart out.  I want to see him on that Idol stage for at least a few more weeks.

My favorite of the night was Lauren Alaina.  I loved her version of “Candle in the Wind”.  Also, my favorite line of the night from Steven Tyler, “You keep singing like that and you’ll be able to afford the rest of that dress.”  (I didn’t write the quote down–so don’t yell if I got it wrong.)  It reminded me of something my father would say.  Uh-oh Steven…did your birthday age you?

Last, but not least is Haley Reinhart.  Randy said her performance was the best of the night.  Randy said…not me.

Since Casey was saved last week, we have two contestants being eliminated tomorrow night.  Yikes!  As we saw last week, it’s anybody’s game.  My guess for the bottom would be Thia, Naima and um…I refuse to say on the grounds that…

Goodnight…Bloggergal